Groveland Twp. – The design of state police cars played a role in the escape of a man arrested twice this week.
John Wesley Metzelburg III, 30, escaped from a Michigan State Police car Monday.
With no partition between front and back seats, Metzelburg was able to climb over the seat to escape with the vehicle.
Troopers from the Michigan State Police Groveland post had arrested Metzelburg, an Auburn Hills resident at approximately 11 p.m. Jan. 16 in the parking lot of a Springfield Township bar on charges of carrying a concealed weapon.
Around 1 a.m. Jan. 17, troopers were at the MSP Groveland post to transfer Metzelburg to another car to be transported to the Oakland County Jail.
While one of the troopers left the cars, Metzelburg’who was handcuffed with his hands in front of his body’was placed in the back seat of the transporting vehicle by the other, said Detective Sgt. Gary Muir of the MSP Groveland post.
‘One had to run back upstairs,? Muir said. ‘One trooper put (Metzelburg) in the car in the back seat when a fire-ambulance pulled up.?
As the trooper stopped to talk to ambulance attendants, the handcuffed suspect quickly unbuckled his seat belt, got into the driver’s seat, and drove off with the car’in front of the trooper.
Unlike Genesee County Sheriff patrol cars, state police cars don’t partition off the back seat.
‘There’s no security window between the seats,? Muir said.
Troopers responded quickly to the escape.
‘The trooper ran upstairs and got the other trooper and got into the (first) patrol car,? said Muir.
The car headed southbound on Dixie Highway from the post. The radio was shut down in the stolen car, which was recovered around 7:30 a.m. the same day by troopers who observed the vehicle at the top of a driveway near Bald Eagle Lake Road.
‘They called the state police K-9 dog unit to search,? Muir said. ‘As it got daylight they observed tracks.?
A trail leading from the abandoned police car led to the site of a newly-reported stolen car on Bird Road. The K-9 handler confirmed the trail was Metzelburg’s, Muir said.
All of the recovered police car’s equipment was accounted for except the trooper’s handcuffs.
In response to media reports, the Groveland post received numerous offers of help from other police agencies.
The publicity also garnered a tip that led to Metzelburg’s second arrest in northern Lapeer County.
The Lapeer MSP post received a tip about Metzelburg’s whereabouts around 4 p.m. Jan. 18. Lapeer troopers located the stolen white van in a rural area near a stand of pine trees, said 1st Lt. Patrick McGreevy, commander of the Lapeer post.
‘As troopers approached the (van), Metzelburg briefly accelerated and then intentionally backed into the front end of a state police patrol car in an attempt to disable it,? McGreevy said in a Jan. 19 media statement.
After a four-mile chase, Metzelburg crashed into a culvert, fleeing on foot through an icy, water-filled ditch, and was apprehended by the troopers.
No one suffered any injuries in the arrest, said McGreevy.
‘It was a dangerous situation, they knew the guy was a dangerous person who had already stolen one state police car and a van.
‘The troopers got rammed but they stayed with it, and followed policy and procedure. There were dangerous road conditions but it was a good case where nobody got hurt and they got the bad guy. I thought they did a wonderful job,? he said.
Metzelburg’s escape from a state police car is one of at least three within the past 15 years.
The few escapes are usually due to troopers not observing proper restraint procedures, said Shanon Akans, spokesperson for the MSP Lansing office, although a Rockford, Mich. escape several years ago involved an ‘extremely agile? young teenage girl who had been restrained according to policy.
?(MSP cars) don’t use any sort of metal bars or cages,? said Akans. ‘The true reason why they don’t do it is troopers are trained in a way they use a different handcuffing method, a special way of restraining prisoners. They find (partitions) unnecessary. I would think it would be a benefit to us with mobilization, and I imagine it’s an added cost.?
Genesee County Undersheriff James Gage worked for the Michigan State Police for more than 20 years before coming to the sheriff’s department.
All sheriff’s patrol and transport cars have a partition, either a metal screen or a Plexiglas shield ‘so someone could not crawl from the front to the back,? says Gage.
Gage personally prefers the open design of MSP cars: officers don’t have to stop the car, get out, and open the back door from the outside to access back-seat contents.
‘It’s a matter of preference,? he said. ‘It’s inconvenient to the officer, they like to reach in the back seat to get an accident pad or a briefcase.?
With the door handles removed from the back seat of sheriff vehicles, ‘once you’re in there, you’re in there,? said Gage.
MSP vehicles require being ‘a little more alert, and a little more security-conscious,? he said, although sheriff deputies also need to be cautious about searching for weapons.
‘That’s why even if it’s a traffic offender in the back seat, you have to search, check their coat, purse.?
No determination has been made regarding the Groveland troopers? conduct.
‘It’s an administrative issue that will be dealt with,? Muir said. ‘I’m sure there will be an investigation.?
As of Jan. 19, Metzelburg is being held in the Lapeer County Jail pending charges from the Lapeer County Prosecutor’s Office, in addition to a five-count felony warrant issued Jan. 19 by the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.